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Consumables

Consumables are temporary bonuses that have strong effects with a limited number of uses. They are always consumed after each battle, so captains must be aware how they work and how they are obtained. Choosing the right consumables can be the difference between a good game or a great game. They could also be the difference between winning and losing.

There are a variety of consumables in World of Warships; some are only available to certain ship classes at certain tiers. Every consumable has a version that is free of charge and another that is available for purchase with either doubloons or credits. Premium versions of consumables with charges grant an additional one charge as well as decreasing the cooldown by 33%. Premium consumables cost 22,500 to mount. Players can also choose to automatically resupply these consumables after each battle.

The below information contains base values only. Commander skills and signal flags can change this information. For example, Jack of All Trades decreases reload times of all consumables by 5%. High Alert decreases the reload time for the Damage Control Party consumable by 10%. Superintendent adds one additional charge for each consumable. Finally, the November Foxtrot () signal flag, earned via the High Caliber achievement, reduces reload time of all consumables by 5%.

Damage Control Party

The basic consumable found on all ships, it instantly repairs all module incapacitations, fires, and floods. Unlike most consumables which have limited uses, Damage Control Party typically has infinite uses and can be used as many times as the player wishes (provided they have something to repair). In addition, the ship is immune to incapacitations, fires, and floods that occur during the duration of the consumable. The cooldown varies per type of ship, and can be further reduced based on the skills her commander has and the signals that have been mounted. The duration also varies per ship: typically 5 seconds for destroyers and cruisers, while most battleships' last for 15 seconds.

It may be tempting to instantly fix any damage on a ship, but if under fire, waiting may be the wiser decision. In destroyers where modules get incapacitated very easily, waiting until something major (e.g. engine, rudder) breaks is a lot smarter than wasting Damage Control Party on a simple armament incapacitation. In battleships where the ship is easy to spot and hit and the Damage Control Party cooldown is long, repairing something minor like a single fire leaves the ship vulnerable for the next minute, during which time flooding caused by a torpedo hit or more fires caused by enemy shelling would be very deadly.

As of 0.8.0, aircraft carriers' Damage Control Party now activates automatically when deemed necessary by the game.

Repair Party

This consumable repairs damage by restoring a ship's hit points. It is found on battleships of all tiers, as well as Tier IX and X cruisers (plus most British cruisers, high tier Russian destroyers, Tier VIII premium American destroyer Kidd, Tier VIII Japanese premium cruiser Atago, and Tier VI German premium cruiser Admiral Graf Spee). Health restored per second is a percentage of the ship's maximum health pool.

The use of this consumable is the most common way to earn the achievement Dreadnought. The other way to earn this achievement is to destroy five ships with a ship captained by the unique commander Isoroku Yamamoto.

Note that not all damage can be repaired. The following percentages of damage taken are eligible to be restored by Repair Party:

Catapult Fighter

When activated, the consumable deploys a group of two or three fighters (three or four with the Direction Center for Fighters skill) from the ship's catapult or by a strike squadron's summons.

Once launched, the fighter group will orbit around the ship or designated area at a radius of 3 km and automatically intercept nearby enemy planes. By itself it is fairly effective at shooting some down. However, shipboard AA defenses, particularly when bolstered by Defensive AA Fire (), and a fighter group can wreak havoc. When not engaged, the fighter group may detect concealed enemy ships that come within its visual range. See the Aircraft article for more information.

The Fighter consumable is available on Tier IV and higher Japanese cruisers, Tier V-VIII British cruisers, Tier V and higher American cruisers, Tier VI and higher German cruisers, all battleships Tier VII and higher, all aircraft carriers, and all strike aircraft Tier VI and higher. Note that some ships require a hull upgrade before this consumable becomes available. Ships with catapult-launched aircraft often must choose between equipping either a Catapult Fighter or a Spotting Aircraft (). Note that Surveillance Radar () is an option on some cruisers.

Spotting Aircraft

Similar to the Catapult Fighter () consumable, the Spotting Aircraft consumable launches a plane from the ship's catapult. However, instead of attacking enemy aircraft, the unarmed Spotting Aircraft increases the range of the ship's main battery by 20% and gives an "aerial" perspective when scoping. Like the Catapult Fighter, it can spot ships if it happens to fly near them. While its duration is shorter and its cooldown longer than the fighter, it does have a larger orbital radius of about 4.25 km, increasing the chance to detect ships.

The aerial perspective may take some getting used to:

More vertical lead on the screen is required due to the angle; to make matters worse, many crosshairs are purely horizontal.

The auto-tracking feature (if used) tends to drift more than it does for the normal zoom.

The view covers a smaller area due to the angle, so careless zooming may end up with no ship on the screen.

On the other hand, the aerial perspective can be quite handy when shooting at ships behind islands, or at tracers coming out of smoke.

The Spotting Aircraft consumable is available on all Tier IX and X cruisers, Russian cruisers Tier VI and above, British cruisers from Tiers V-VIII, Japanese battleships Tier IV and higher, and American battleships Tier VI and higher. Ships with access to catapult-launched aircraft often must choose between equipping either a Catapult Fighter or a Spotting Aircraft.

Smoke Generator

Found on all destroyers, British cruisers of Tier V and above, and a few premium cruisers such as Mikhail Kutuzov. It deploys vision-obscuring smoke, and reduces the enemy detection capabilities within the area of smoke. However, it also impairs your vision and it will be extremely difficult to escape if they are able to spot you within. Your teammates will be required to spot enemies for you, but staying in a smoke screen is generally safe.

When activated, the Smoke Screen consumable will generate "puffs" of smoke at regular intervals for the emission duration listed, as long as the ship generating it has moved far enough away from the center of the last "puff". These puffs are easily visible by enabling "Show Smoke Boundaries" in the bottom right corner of the Settings > Controls window. Enabling this option will show the boundaries of smoke clouds laid by both friends and enemies once you are at close range to the border of the cloud. British cruiser smoke "puffs" are larger in diameter than those laid by destroyers.

A smoke screen can be used in a variety of ways, from providing cover to your allies to blocking off line of sight through a choke point. As a destroyer — especially a Japanese destroyer — a smoke screen should be deployed if being fired upon. Ships moving faster than 12.5 knots will not be enveloped in their own smoke clouds; ships moving at very high speed will lay very large swaths of smoke behind them for teammates to use.

A tactic known as "invisi-firing" involving ships with guns to be able to fire without being detected and sometimes involving a smoke screen. Many mid-tier players employ this tactic and sit still in the smoke screen, landing shells on enemies without them retaliating. Most American and Russian destroyers can perform this easily due to their fast-firing guns and long range. It is not entirely foolproof, since enemies can still see shell arcs emerging from the smoke cloud and may be able to trace those shell arcs and shoot in your general location. In addition, someone must spot enemies outside of the smoke screen for you, or else you will have nothing to fire at. It is not recommended to attempt this unless you know the enemy will not target you. Even then, enemy ships may simply send torpedoes into the smoke and get an easy kill.

Ships concealed by smoke are not revealed when they fire their anti-aircraft or secondary battery guns.

Engine Boost

This consumable enhances a ship's engine power and top speed. It is found on all but British destroyers, but it can often be swapped out for Defensive AA Fire () on some late-hull American destroyers and high-tier Russian destroyers. It is also available to French cruisers from tier VI onwards and to French battleships from tier VIII onwards. French ships typically have an enhanced Engine Boost compared to the normal variation.

When activated, a boost that grants +8% will provide an 8% increase in top speed. This means a ship with 35 knot top speed will reach 37.8 knots. The use of this consumable also grants a significant engine power bonus, enabling the ship to accelerate and decelerate much faster, although the exact amount is not given. It can be used to improve maneuverability when attempting to dodge incoming shells and torpedoes. If captains are rushing to attack/defend an area, this consumable should be used as well.

A ship's engine smoke will visually appear much thicker during the duration of the consumable. However this effect is purely cosmetic. Engine Boost has no impact on a ship's concealment value.

Although British destroyers do not have this consumable, they have excellent initial engine power by default. This means that although their top speed is limited, their acceleration from stop is even faster than other destroyers with Engine Boost active.*: This does not apply to premium British destroyers. They have normal initial engine power and Engine Boost consumable, similar to destroyers of other nations.

Engine Cooling

This consumable extends the engine boost time of aircraft. It is found on all strike aircraft and cannot be changed to a premium version for an extra charge and lowered cooldown.

When activated, the current squadron controlled by the player will have their boost meter refilled to full. This is especially useful on Attack Aircraft, as their boost meter is much smaller than either the Torpedo Bombers' or Dive Bombers' boost meters, thereby allowing the player to boost for a longer time than is allowed by the boost meter.

ENGINE BOOST I

Cost: Free

Class or Ship

Tier

Nation(s)

Duration

Cooldown

Charges

Attack Aircraft

IV

5 seconds

80 seconds

3

Attack Aircraft

VIII

5 seconds

80 seconds

3

Attack Aircraft

VI - X

5 seconds

80 seconds

2

Torpedo Bombers

IV - X

5 seconds

80 seconds

2

Dive Bombers

IV - X

5 seconds

80 seconds

2

Main Battery Reload Booster

Available to French cruisers from tier VI and up, premium battleships Jean Bart and Bourgogne, and premium destroyer Le Terrible. This consumable reduces the reload time on a ship's main battery for a short duration. The consumable allows players to temporarily gain a significant amount of firepower to fire one or more knockout salvos at the enemy in critical situations.

This consumable's effect runs continuously: if it is started or ended while a reload is in progress, the reload bonus will be applied for the length of time spent under the consumable's effect. In order to maximize the bonus, captains should fire just before activating the consumable, and it is not necessary to time the end of its duration so that it lines up with a reload.

Torpedo Reload Booster

Available on select high-tier Japanese destroyers, this consumable instantly reduces a ship's torpedo reload time to either 5 or 8 seconds. This consumable is great for players who like the "ninja torpedo" strategy on Japanese destroyers: stay out of detection range and launch torpedoes. Captains can use the Torpedo Reload Booster immediately after firing all of their torpedoes, then fire a full salvo again in short order. This often surprises an enemy who feels safe after dodging the first salvo. Captains must choose between Smoke Generator () and Torpedo Reload Booster (except on Akizuki). Tier VI premium Pan-Asian cruiser Huanghe can also equip this consumable instead of Hydroacoustic Search ().

Hydroacoustic Search

Available on all cruisers Tier IV and above as well as German battleships (from tier VIII), German destroyers (from tier VI), and British destroyers (from tier VI), this consumable increases detection capability of enemy torpedoes and ships. It will detect any ship within the detection range regardless of any obstacles such as smoke screens or islands. It will also detect torpedoes at roughly double to triple a typical torpedo's detection range. The torpedo detection bonus stacks with the Vigilance commander skill. This consumable can be very useful for hunting destroyers and detecting torpedoes early enough to properly evade them.

The detection ranges are usually very consistent among ships of the same tier, with the exception of German ships: they have a superior version of this consumable with greater range and/or duration compared to their competition.

As the player progresses to higher tiers, the detection ranges of this consumable typically increase accordingly. The exception here is British destroyers, which have uniform duration and ranges across all tiers.

This consumable can be exchanged for Defensive AA Fire () on most cruisers. American light cruisers and Italian cruisers can mount both simultaneously; British cruisers can only mount Hydroacoustic Search.

*: As of 0.8.0, premium cruisers Yūbari, Kronshtadt, and Stalingrad are the only cruisers above tier III that cannot mount this consumable.**: As of 0.8.0, Gallant is the only British destroyer that cannot mount this consumable.***: Ernst Gaede only gets access to Hydroacoustic Search upon mounting B hull.

Unlike its sister ship Bismarck, premium battleship Tirpitzdoes not have access to this consumable.

Defensive AA Fire

The most vital consumable against aircraft, Defensive AA Fire temporarily increases the damage of anti-aircraft guns. This means bombers are much more likely to be shot down before or after dropping their payload. This consumable is available on non-British cruisers from Tier VI and up, on upgraded hulls for American destroyers from Tier V and up, and on alternate Russian destroyer branch Tier VIII and up. Ships equipped with Defensive AA Fire should escort friendly ships when the threat of an air strike is present.

As of 0.8.0 update, aircraft carriers no longer have access to this consumable.

Most cruisers can exchange this consumable for Hydroacoustic Search (). Italian and American light cruisers have access to both Defensive AA Fire and Hydroacoustic Search simultaneously. American destroyers can exchange this consumable for Engine Boost ().

Surveillance Radar

Available for British, American, and Russian cruisers, as well as Pan-Asian destroyers starting from Tier VIII and upwards. British and American cruisers have longer lasting duration, while Russian cruisers have longer detection range. Pan-Asian destroyer radar is of very short duration, but does extend past their typical detection radii.

This consumable is excellent for hunting down destroyers, as it instantly reveals all enemy ships within the radar's specified radius, regardless of any obstacles such as smoke screens or islands. Additionally, it can extend view range in cyclones. For example, the American Tier VIII cruiser Baltimore can see enemy ships at 10.00 km during a cyclone, giving her a 1.0 km advantage. Note that this will only work for radars with a range of more than 8.0 km (as cyclones hard cap visibility range at 8.0 km). While active during a cyclone, Surveillance Radar will extend a ship's visibility range out to match the ship's radar range for the duration of the radar consumable. This allows radar-equipped ships to potentially fire their main battery undetected for a time.

While this consumable can detect ships, be wary to not confuse it with Hydroacoustic Search (), which can detect both torpedoes as well as ships. Surveillance Radar will only detect enemy ships.